Where Demons Hide
by Ari Winters
Summary: After surviving two wars a quest didn't seem half bad. But she was definitely in way over her head when she accepted this. Waking up in an elevator with no memories Jay has to figure out who she is, what she is and what she's meant to do all over again.
1. Prove Yourself

Camp Half-blood was once again quiet, most of campers having returned to their homes for the school year, and the Romans having returned to Camp Jupiter. Most of those staying were working on a city, something similar to New Rome.

It would be a safe place. A place that they could always live in, and grow up.

Jay liked the thought of that. She liked it because, until that point, she had given up on the thought of making it to the age of 20. The blonde almost laughed at that, only 15 and despite surviving 2 wars she'd given up on surviving another 5 years.

A yawn escaped her, her eyes glancing around the cabin. Jay could make out the silhouettes of the furniture well enough, but otherwise it was too dark to see anything around her clearly. Not that she actually needed to see any of it if she were to get up and walk around. After almost 6 years of living in this cabin, and in much more crowded times, it was simple.

Closing her eyes she allowed herself to close her eyes for a moment, though all she could see were the images of the wars again. They played over and over in her mind. She was surprised she hadn't completely lost her mind yet. Like Chris, though he lost his over a different reason. And her brother had admittedly gotten better over time thanks to Clarisse, a statement Jay had never thought she would hear before.

What she didn't know was, that was the last time for a while that her life would be normal.

If any of what had previously occurred could be taken as normal.

…

A dream was how it was offered to her, and all the preparation that she received. One moment she was so far from sleep in Cabin 11 and the next thing she knew she was dead to the world, and up on Olympus. It was a place she would've rather never seen again.

Especially when she saw her father approach her.

"Lord Hermes," she greeted tersely, giving a curtsey to be polite. She considered kneeling for less than a second, before deciding she'd rather kill herself than do that. Still, some politeness was necessary. She would rather avoid a painful death, or some horrible form of torture that would last for eternity. Perhaps she hated him, but she still had common sense.

"Jay, I would have rather it not come down to you however… due to circumstances I have a proposal for you…" he told her solemnly, and though she couldn't see it there was a sadness in his eyes. If she had noticed she would've blamed it on Luke's death a year prior. That his prized son was dead and his daughter still here. His daughter that had done nothing. "A quest you could say."

"A quest for me?" Jay asked in shock, looking at her father. Normally she would've had a sarcastic retort but this had been the last thing she'd expected. In fact, she might have sooner expected him to simply smite her. Though quests did have a tendency to be lethal.

"Success is crucial," he continued, not phased by her interruption. "Your aim will be to minimize the casualties and save the lives of as many of the mortals as possible. Do you accept?"

Jay hesitated. It was one of the few times in her life she didn't have a response. Perhaps she should have said no, the war was over, peace was achieved. She had a hope for a long life. A happy life. A chance to grow up, have a family and die old and at peace with the world and having more than she could've ever imagined.

But she was a half-blood, and she was proud. And this was her chance to prove herself, prove that she was as strong and good as the others. This was something she had waited for for years now.

"Yes," she answered a grin crossing her face. Before scrunching her face up in confusion. "So… do I see the oracle in the morning or something?"

"There is no time for that, I will tell Chiron myself what has happened. Your quest begins now."

…

"You didn't tell her," a voice interrupted Hermes' thoughts, and he turned to see one of his brothers, Apollo. "You didn't mention that she would lose her memories."

"No," Hermes answered with a sigh, running a hand through his hair. "I'll help her recover them as she goes… besides she's a half-blood, somewhere in there she'll know that she's meant to help. Half-bloods have never been good at sitting around and doing nothing."

"It often gets them killed," Apollo commented, more blunt than he normally was. His recent punishment, and the deaths of so many of his children had temporarily caused him to show the maturity he was capable to handling. Unfortunately that maturity also came with an unfortunately blunt side that Hermes didn't require right now.

"Every time we send them on a quest, we send them to die for us. This isn't much different." It wasn't really. Aside from the fact that it wasn't the world she knew.

"I have seen what happens Hermes… her hatred and pain will grow during the quest. Even if she survives… she won't be the same."

"They never are," Hermes murmured in response, pinching the bridge of his nose.

He had lost so many of his children. They didn't know but he had in fact watched all of them grow, occasionally intervened to ensure their safety. Now he felt like he was sending another one straight to Hades.

**A/N: Hey guys. So I recently read through the trilogy after watching the movie, and shortly afterwards I reread The Lightning Thief. Basically because Greek Mythology has a lot where Gods indirectly meddle with the ****affairs of mortals in the original myths, this came to my mind. And beyond that I just love Newt, and Mihno and everyone. So hopefully this does justice to the works of Rick Riordan and James Dashner and I hope that you guys enjoy it. **


	2. Welcome to Your Life

She was drowning. She couldn't breathe. Her body thrashed, moving desperate in order to try to stay alive.

Everything went black.

The next time she was certain she was in fact conscious, she found herself inside what she figured was an elevator. She could feel it moving. Hear it moving. But she couldn't see.

That wasn't the most distressing part of all of it though. She couldn't remember. She didn't know who she was. She didn't know where she came from. She didn't know why she was here and she certainly didn't know where she was going.

She screamed.

Her hands pounded against the walls as she screamed insults and curses and cries for help escaped her throat. It continued until she had tired herself out, her body sore from what she had just put it through. Her mind was still reeling though. There had to be something.

What's my name?

There was no answer to that question. In fact, thinking about it she couldn't remember the names of her parents, or her parents in general. She knew that she had to have them, but thinking only brought up blanks. Siblings as well, somehow she felt that she might have had them, she could remember strange things like stealing shirts and hot-wiring cars with people she kind of remembered as siblings. But she couldn't remember faces or names.

How old am I?

That didn't even get half as far as the previous question of her name. Though, it didn't raise as many extra questions for her as her name did. She felt herself fidget, pushing herself back to her feet and starting to move around the room. She couldn't understand why she was unable to sit still, but somehow she remembered she'd always had issues with it.

What can I remember?

That got her further. She remembered a building, old with brown paint that looked like it was falling off, a caduceus hung above the door. She remembered throwing food into a fire, though she couldn't recall why she did it. She could recall volleyball, the laughter and the sun as they played, though she couldn't remember who she was playing with.

Pizza. She could remember that definitely, and alone at the thought her stomach growled in hunger.

When was the last time she had eaten anyway? She couldn't be too sure. She wasn't sure how long she'd been in this damned elevators let alone anything much from before that. It could've been anywhere from minutes to a couple of hours. She knew it couldn't have been much longer only because of the strength that she still had.

After a day without water or food it wouldn't be possible to be this active, especially not after her fit from earlier. And yet she didn't know how she knew that either.

She let out a groan of annoyance, throwing another punch at the wall that had her hissing in pain.

All that she did know, all that was certain was she was alone in this elevator to somewhere. Alone with not even something as simple as a torch for company.

She didn't feel like that would be too much to ask for.

It was when the elevator stopped however she received a real shock, being flung across the elevator, her head hitting against the metal wall. She groaned, previously not thinking it possible to be anymore disorientated than she was. Despite the elevator having stopped she felt unsteady now, just trying to keep herself standing without falling.

That was when the top opened, and she whimpered as the light hit her.

It was painfully bright, the sudden change preventing her from being able to see clearly, aside from the silhouettes of the people above her. Now she was scared, somehow instinctively shifting the weight of her legs ready to hit someone if they were a threat. On the bright side one of her questions had been answered.

Her hair was blonde.

…

It had been a normal day for the Gladers. The runners had left early in the morning, and everyone else had set themselves to their own specific jobs quickly enough. Only today, one of the runners hadn't gone to map his section.

Newt always stayed behind once a month, leaving Minho to run the section with Alby instead. He felt guilty about it, given that Alby only ran the maze when necessary; but it was one day.

The blonde was considered to be one of the best at dealing with the Greenies, Nick wasn't too bad but his second in command was beyond terrible. In fact, instead of making them feel better Alby usually brought them to the edge of a heart attack. And Nick, Nick was patient and calm, a very level headed person, however he never connected with them. Somehow Newt seemed to manage to connect with them in a way that managed to calm them down a lot quicker than any of the others were able to manage.

Greeting the Newbies might as well have been his official second job.

So when the sirens went off that day, like the others he waited for the newbie to arrive, standing in front of the others beside Nick. His lips were set into a straight line as he looked at it. 11 months in this damn place and they'd mapped out the whole thing. There was no way out, and knowing that made greeting the newbies even harder.

He had to give them hope when he barely had any left himself.

"Bloody hell," he said the moment the elevator was opened. "It's a… girl?" he commented aloud, though even making the observation his mind was whirring as he looked over at Nick. The leader looked just as confused. Just as unsure of what to do. A girl. The first girl in 11 months. The only girl so far. Would there only be girls from now on? What did this mean?

"You don't say," a sarcastic retort caught him off guard, bringing his eyes back to her. It was enough to shock him back into helping her, grabbing the rope and throwing it in for her while the other boys were craning to get a look.

The girl hesitated, before grabbing on and allowing them to pull her up, Nick grabbed onto her wrist to pull her up onto solid ground, unlike how the boys usually just grabbed onto clothes. She brushed the dirt off herself almost without really caring, wearing a pair of tight pants that were ripped at the knees and an orange shirt that was worn out.

Newt could barely make out the words 'camp' at the beginning of the shirt, let alone anything else. It left him wondering if it was a clue as to where she was from, or just a false hope for her that the creators had given.

Not like they'd ever find out anyway.

"Welcome to the Glade, Greenie. Nice to meet ya," Newt greeted, holding out his hand for the girl to shake. He watched her, her eyes narrowing at his hand for a moment. He couldn't imagine the thoughts going through her head as slowly she raised a small hand to shake his.

He was surprised by her tight grip, somehow not expecting a girl to have that, and even more so when he looked at her hand and saw it covered in blood. His eyes widened slightly when he realized it meant that she had put up one hell of a fight somewhere along the way.

"Name's Newt, and this here is Nick, our leader," he continued to explain to her, watching as Nick also moved forwards to shake the girls hand. The crowd of boys were still standing in awe, some gawking and murmurs rushing through the crowd.

All of them were looking at her as though she was the most beautiful girl they'd ever seen. And that was true given she was the only girl any of them could remember seeing. Still, despite thinking she did look pretty, but Newt hadn't imagined a girl, a beautiful girl at least, to look like she did.

Pale blonde hair, almost white, fell in soft curls down to her shoulder blades. Her skin was tanned, and body lean though after the handshake he felt she might not be as delicate as they might judge her to be based on gender. She was shorter than him, maybe 160 centimeters, or just over that. Her nose small and sharp, pale eyebrows up turned and freckles dotting her face across her nose and cheeks. Her eyes though, they were big and they were intriguing.

At first he thought he was seeing things, that it was a trick of the light. But it wasn't. One of her eyes was brown, and the other was blue.

"What's your name Greenbean?" Nick asked from beside him, and he watched her nose scrunch up as she thought for a moment.

'Jay,' she heard a male voice in her head say. She should've jumped, or thought she was going insane or something but somehow she felt comforted by it. She knew it. 'You're name is Jay,' the deep voice repeated.

"Jay," the half-blood answered after another moment of hesitation.

"Well Jay, welcome to your new home," he announced, and she scanned the area again like she had when she'd first left the elevator. Large walls had caught her attention. They made her curious and at the same time they instilled fear and worry into her and she didn't know why that was the case. "Newt, give her a tour, we've still got a few hours before the Runners'll get back, I'll set up somethin' for her in the Homestead."

"Good that, comin' Greenie?" Newt asked, after nodding at what Nick had said. The older boy had turned and run back to the homestead, and slowly the boys, though still openly gaping at her were slowly moving off to work.

"Why are they staring at me?" she asked, awkwardly shuffling closer to the boy giving her a tour. He laughed in response.

"Ya're the Greenie, and those shanks can't remember ever seein' a girl before," he commented, a teasing tone to his voice.

"There aren't any other girls?" Jay asked, looking at him wide-eyed.

"Never have been before ya showed up," he answered with a shrug. Unlike most others she was somewhat calm, asked questions but didn't constantly interrupt. Though he was certain she wasn't listening to him the entire time that he was speaking either.

Which she wasn't, not that she'd admit it. Instead she was caught up with internal worries, her memories or lack there of were bothering her, the male voice in her head. What was she even doing here? Where they her captors or saviors? Couldn't they just leave through those doors if they wanted to?

She didn't want to live this way.

**A/N: **

**Alright, so here is actually hopefully the second chapter. I don't know why the notes happened, but thank you to May a Chance for bringing it to my attention though I hope that you enjoy it. **

**Also to May a Chance, thank you for your review for the first chapter. I'm glad to know that you've enjoyed reading this!**


	3. Girly

Newt had left her alone before dinner, in a room that Nick had quickly worked on emptying out before. Currently all that was inside was the sleeping mat located on the floor, and she sat on it, staring out at the sky as she thought.

Somehow it was familiar. She knew it.

_…_

_She hugged her legs to her chest, tears in her eyes as she sat on the sleeping bag. No one else was in the room, but it was far from being empty. _

_Bunk beds were pushed up along the sides of the walls, sleeping bags strewn around the ground along with a lot of other things. She couldn't make out half of it if she was being honest. _

_"__Not enjoying yourself?" a boy asked her, and she could remember him. Tanned skin, blonde hair and blue eyes. His nose was pointed, like hers, also possessing upturned eyebrows and some similar facial features. She didn't reply. Only hugged herself tighter trying not to cry. With a sympathetic look he sat down beside her, pulling her into his arms. "This isn't just a place where we live, this is home, this is family. Me, Travis and Connor, Chris, Irene, all of us. And I'd do anything to see a smile on that beautiful face." _

_The 9 year old smiled at him. _

_…_

The blonde boy was the first face that she could recall. And whilst she couldn't recall his name, or anything about him really she knew a bunch of emotions were connected to him. Trust. Comfort. Love. Pain. Guilt. Betrayal.

And somehow she knew he was dead.

She felt it somewhere deep inside her as she stared off into the distance.

Somewhere she wondered why she could remember that. The other boys couldn't remember anything if what Nick had told her was true. And the emotions tied to that one memory, something so small and seemingly inconsequential made her feel perhaps she didn't want to remember her past. Maybe, at least for her, the lack of memory could in fact be a blessing.

It was that state that she was in when Newt came back into her room, sitting almost completely still and staring out of the window. Her right hand was moving though, tapping a rhythm onto the ground over and over again. He watched for a moment, wondering what had gotten her to stop. Earlier when he had given her the tour she had barely been able to concentrate. Constantly moving, and once she seemed a touch more comfortable the questions had rolled out of her mouth question after question.

He almost found it annoying as he tried to answer, tried to give her an answer that didn't give too much away but would be enough to temporarily satisfy her.

"Frypan's made dinner," he finally interrupted, watching as the girl jumped to her feet in what seemed a defensive position. He was surprised at the instinctive reaction, only expecting her to flinch at most. "I'm not gonna bloody hurt ya, Greenie," he commented, raising his hands in the air and watching her take a deep breath.

"Sorry," she mumbled as her shoulders slumped. "I was thinking."

"I noticed that much, now lets go so ya can get some food before the fire tonight." At his words she nodded, a small, forced smile crossing her face. Still she obediently walked out of the room in front of him to what she supposed was the equivalent of a mess hall. Groups of boys were already there, shoving the food in her mouth in a way that made her cringe.

It went silent the moment they noticed her.

She didn't stop moving however, the way that she had earlier that day. Instead she walked, confidently towards Frypan, graciously accepting a plate of food and glaring at any of the boys. Newt tried his best to hold back his chuckles. The other boys weren't doing so well, starting to laugh without meaning to.

Jay ignored it temporarily as she sat down next to Newt, before looking up and narrowing her eyes at the asian boy sitting across from her.

"I get it, I'm a girl, I know that I'm a girl. Go find the fucking creators yourself and ask them why I'm here because I don't know," she spat, causing the boy to laugh. And even Newt couldn't hide the grin of amusement that spread on his face at her comment.

"Wow the she-bean's got a mouth on her, I always thought a girl would be more polite," he commented in return, a smirk on his face. "But it's lovely to look at you anyway, name's Minho by the way."

Neither of the boys were sure but they were fairly certain something akin to a growl had left the girls throat as Minho had spoken, before she glared at her food and started stabbing it with a fork. What they didn't know was how high the temptation for her was to see what would happen if she stabbed 'Minho' with a fork.

Or Newt, who no longer seemed to be supporting or defending her.

"Her name's Jay," Newt supplied for her. "And this shank is the Keeper of Runners," he offered her a piece of information about him. A silent nudge for the two of them to slim it.

"Keeper of Runners?" she repeated, head cocked to the side as she looked between the two boys. Newt and Minho exchanged looks for a moment, before Minho shrugged his shoulders.

"Runners are the ones that go out into the maze everyday, try to find a way out, so far we've found nothing," Minho commented, not caring about the look that Newt was giving him. "Both Newt and I are Runners."

"But ya'll be starting with the Slicers tomorrow, it's where everyone starts," Newt interfered before Minho could run his mouth anymore. She wasn't supposed to know too much yet. That would come with time, she wasn't ready to know anymore about the maze or anything out there. Though tomorrow Newt was certain Alby or Nick would show her a Griever. They tended to do that with newbies; from what he'd noticed it'd gotten a lot of them more content with their situation inside maze walls.

They were no longer as desperate to get out into the maze and look themselves.

"Would you look at that, we actually do have a shuckin' girl, probably gonna be a Slopper, don't doubt it," a new voice broke their focus, and Newt rolled his eyes before turning to the boy in question. Gally.

"Shut ya hole, shuck-face" the blonde announced, before Jay could get a word in. Any attempts that she would make would probably only fuel Gally's jokes, and he'd already figured she had a fairly short temper.

"Stickin' up for her already? I can tell ya now that she's no good! 11 months and not a single girl and now we get this one…" he glared at the girl in question, and surprising Newt she looked moderately amused. Still angry as she glared at him, but the side of her mouth had twitched up into a smirk.

"Maybe from now on you'll only be getting girls," she commented, a fake smile on her face. "But beyond that, I didn't ask to be here, I know nothing, and I'm going to work as well, so don't you worry about having to do anything for me."

Her voice was strong as she spoke, the forced smile remained plastered on her face even as her eyes narrowed slightly after she finished speaking. A warning. Gally however didn't take it seriously. In fact not even half seriously as he continued to glare. He was about to retort when Minho intervened. He was anyway looking for a reason to threaten the other boy.

"You heard the she-bean, now get your ass over and eat some food and leave her alone." He'd spoken quietly, his voice low and threatening. With a final glare cast between the three, Gally lifted his head high and wandered off, jaw clenched tightly. Immediately Minho grinned, a smug look on his face as he looked at the other boys retreating form.

"Thank you," Jay said quietly to the two boys, a small smile on the girls face. It was the first time that she had smiled, and meant it, in her time so far.

…

The bonfire was amusing, at least in Jay's opinion. The boys weren't paying much attention to her anymore, to involved in drinking and dancing near the fireplace. A group of them were mock wrestling, mainly centered around Gally.

Jay would've loved to have said she was surprised, but she wasn't. What was worse was everyone that he had challenged, or had challenged him, had lost so far.

It really wasn't good for that boys ego.

Her gaze momentarily went to her hands. That alone made her feel like she could, at least for a while stand up to the larger boy. Scars were littered across her hands, and when she'd gotten dressed earlier she'd noticed there were scars on her arms and across her torso as well. Some of them faint and small, and others more obvious. It left her wondering what her life must have been like before all of this happened. And her mind wandered back to the blonde boy that she remembered. Who was he?

'Luke,' the male voice in her head answered the question, causing her to flinch slightly before she relaxed her body again. 'He was your brother,' it continued, confirming her original thoughts that the boy was dead.

Why can I remember him? Who are you? She thought, hoping that perhaps she'd gain a response from the voice. She waited for a few more minutes, but there wasn't a response. Sighing, she leaned back continuing to watch the fire.

"Ya alright?" a familiar British voice asked, and she looked up at Newt a soft smile playing on her lips.

"As well as any amnesiac in a place they don't know surrounded by a maze, I would suppose," she answered, though there was no sarcasm in her tone. Newt sat down beside her with a sigh of his own, holding the glass of alcohol.

"Want some?" he asked, holding his glass out to her and she shrugged, taking it from his hands. Not knowing why, she raised the drink to her nose, taking a sniff and cringed. She looked up at Newt questioningly. "Well come on then Greenie."

With the encouragement she took a mouthful, immediately spitting it out beside her. Her face scrunched up as she looked at Newt in disgust, before joining in with his laughter a moment later.

"What is that?"

"This is Gally's special mix, tastes like klunk the first time but it gets better," he answered with a grin, taking the drink out of her hands.

"I don't even want to know how you know that," she laughed, her eyes catching on to where Minho was on the other side of the bonfire. "Shouldn't you be over there with him?" she asked, pointing over to where the other runners were, noticing how Newts went blank for a moment.

"Couldn' leave ya all by yaself now could I?" he asked with a kind smile, and she smiled back.

"Considering I've been alone for the last hour and am doing perfectly fine, I think you could've…" she trailed off, returning her eyes to the fire. It stung slightly, looking directly into it. But it captivated her in a strange way.

"Ya're one stubborn shank, ya know that?"

"I feel like someone's told me that before," she answered with a grin.

"Hey look, it's our favorite girly," an annoying voice broke the atmosphere, Jay immediately glaring at Gally.

"Don't call me girly," she snarled, causing the boys around Gally to laugh, an amused grin also spreading on Gally's face.

"What are ya gonna do about it, girly" he emphasized the word, causing her eyes to narrow.

"I'll challenge you to one of your wrestling matches," she answered after a few moments silence, her eyes meeting his. His own eyes had widened in shock, causing the half-blood to smile at him. "I win, you stop calling me girly, you win I won't complain when you do."

"Jay," she heard Newt, the warning in his words, feeling his hand on her arm. Still she quickly brushed it off, pushing herself to her feet. Laughter, jeers and catcalls followed, it seemed to have caught everyones attention already and it hadn't started.

"Or are you scared that you might get beaten by a girl?" she added on sweetly, a smirk crossing her face that went completely against the innocent tone.

"I'm not scared," he practically growled, following her to the circle. Looking at her clothes she realized that the lose shirt she was wearing would be a disadvantage, and without thinking pulled it off; leaving her in a tight singlet with pants. The action was met with more catcalls and jeers, though some fell silent after noticing the scarred flesh of her right shoulder. "Last chance to back down."

"Not a chance, " she responded.

Watching him, she waited, allowing him to charge at her and testing out his strength. He grabbed her, and she was able to hold her ground for all of a second before her flung her to the side. As soon as her body hit the ground she rolled, before pushing herself up into a crouching position.

She didn't know how she had done it. It was all instinctive now, though she knew that once she had trained in order to have this level of comfort during a fight. Taking a deep breath she watched him again.

As he came at her, in the last moment she sprung to the side, catching him with an elbow to the side. He doubled over for a moment as she took her place in the middle of the circle.

She didn't notice the silence that had erupted the moment that she had actually landed a blow. No one had expected her to manage to stay in the circle after he had first grabbed on to her, let alone manage to land a hit of her own. He was more cautious in his next charge, grabbing the girls wrist as she moved to get away. The force of the movement caused her to gasp, but she didn't cry out otherwise as he allowed her momentum to throw her towards the edge of the circle.

Allowing herself to remain on the ground for a moment, she cringed at the pain that was going up her arm. It was only when she noticed him approach again she scrambled to her feet, moving into a defensive position.

This time as he approached, she attacked, surprising everyone. After blocking the first hit, Gally attempted to grab onto the blonde, but narrowly missed. Instead she tripped him over, raising her eyebrows at him when he looked up at her.

"You're going to pay for that Greenie," he warned her. She shrugged nonchalantly at the threat. There wasn't too much that he could do to her after all. Especially not with everyone watching.

He launched himself at her, surprising herself with his speed as he grabbed onto her. Jay struggled, trying to remove his arms from her as he pushed her closer towards the edge of the circle. It was less than a meter to the edge when she kicked her leg out, trying to knock him over. He stumbled, but caught himself using her to keep himself standing and in turn forcing her to the ground.

With a harsh kick he pushed her out of the circle, his group of followers seemingly happy with the victory.

"Not bad girly," the boy said, though his eyes showed how angry he was at how long it had taken for him to win. Angry that she had been able to actually get somewhere during the fight. She didn't even hear the words as another image flashed before her eyes.

…

_"__I'm sorry," the boy said as he stood in front of her, towering over her form that lay on the ground. Her head was held uncomfortably as she looked up at him, his sword held under her throat. _

_"__Don't lie to me," she snarled in response, glaring at the boy. He was attractive. Tanned skin, dark curly hair and bright blue eyes. He was also quite muscled, which would've been a bonus if it weren't for the situation she was currently in. "Just get it over with. Kill me."_

_…_

She let her head drop into her arms, clenching her eyes shut as she wished the image away. Still it was there.

"That was pretty good she-bean," a voice interrupted the torture that her mind was putting her through and she was glad to look up, seeing Minho standing there.

"I'm a girl, not a piece of glass," she commented, in return rolling onto her back. A moment later she accepted the offered hand that helped pull her up. "Besides… I feel like I've done my share of fighting before."

"Well if that's from fighting, then I can believe that she-bean," he commented, pointed at she reddish coloured skin, twisted and disfigured crossing her left shoulder. "What I'd want to know is why you've done so much."

"So would I."

* * *

**A/N: Hey Guys! I'm sorry that this chapter took a bit longer, but I've had a few busy days of sight seeing and family events and stuff, but this chapters anyway a bit longer than the others to sort of make up for that. I hope you also enjoy this chapter!**

**May A Chance: You're welcome! I'm really glad that you've enjoyed the story so far, I've enjoyed writing it!**

**Mariana: Thank you for your lovely review! I'm glad that you're also enjoying the story, even though there isn't that much of it yet. And here is the she's not that fragile bit you were looking for ;) **


	4. This is Life

Jay groaned when someone woke her up that morning, rubbing her eyes to see Nick standing there, motioning her to follow with a torch. Her body was hurting from last night. More so now than then.

She hadn't realized how hard he had gripped her at times, but she was certain there were going to be bruises. Though she supposed that could wait until the sun actually rose.

Quickly she dressed herself in the dark of her room, before following him out to the wall. She was too tired and in too much pain to ask questions, despite her eyes following the small silver snake like things that glowed red. She almost tripped at even that, shaking her head and focussing on walking, where she stepped and lifting her legs up instead of dragging her feet.

This was an excellent day to start work, she thought to herself sarcastically as she stood at a point of the wall, next to him. He pulled away vines to reveal a window, and she raised an eyebrow.

A window in the wall made no sense to her. No sense what so ever.

However shortly afterwards she saw something out of the window. Something large, horrifying and difficult to explain. Her eyes squinted as she tried to get a better look at the… creature, while Nick held the ivy out of the way for her watching her reaction closely. She edged forwards slowly, until she was about a step away from the window.

It was at that point that the almost awkward looking machine noticed her, and she instinctively took a step back as if preparing for it to attack. The moment it launched itself at the glass she launched herself behind the wall, preparing for the case that it might break through.

It didn't.

Deep breaths, she thought to herself as she tried to slow her heart rate down. Nick had dropped the ivy, and had moved to stand in front of her now.

"Thought I'd show it to you before you get any shuckin' ideas of goin' out there to see if you can find a way out of this place," he told her, and she met his gaze and took a final breath before nodding in response.

Flashes of images went through her brain. Creatures that were equally as, if not more terrifying than the thing she'd just seen.

"What was that?" she asked, once she felt confident that her voice would come out confidently. More images flash, things that were half human but then half something completely different. A five headed monster that breathed fire from one head. Women with snakes for legs. Massive, black dogs. Many other… _things_ that she couldn't begin to describe.

"We call 'em Grievers," Nick told the girl, starting to head back to the Homestead. She followed him, looking at her hands as she thought.

"And they're always out in the maze?" she questioned, daring to look at the boy's face for some kind of indication as to whether or not she was right. What she was wondering was whether or not he'd tell her the truth or not.

Sighing, she noticed as Nick clenched his jaw, shaking his head in disbelief. "Yes Greenie, they're out there all the shuckin' time. If we're lucky, they don't come out durin' the day. If we're unlucky, our Runner's have to run for their lives." The words were spat out harshly, and Jay nodded in response. She wasn't scared.

At least now she had a plan.

And she already had two runners on her side.

Or at least as friends.

* * *

Working with the Slicers hadn't been fun. And she definitely wasn't going to stay with them, Jay had decided that the moment Winston had showed her how to gut a sheep. She'd managed to fight back the urge to throw up, which had meant she'd at least proven herself.

Jay knew from the moment that she had started that she had to succeed. If she didn't the boys that lived here would never accept her.

But the moment Winston sent her away, she had a shower.

In fact she'd stayed in the shower almost an hour, ignoring the boys banging on the door that she'd managed to jam shut. The boys didn't know how she'd done it. But they weren't happy with her for doing so, that was obvious. Despite that Jay had barely noticed their banging, or what they yelled, too busy desperately trying to scrub the blood off of herself. Even once it was gone she could feel it, and images flashed through her mind. Things that didn't make sense. Holding a boy who was dying. Seeing his blood on her hands. In her hair.

A shiver ran through her body again, causing her to shake her head and turn off the water. Grabbing a towel she wrapped up her hair first, before grabbing another one to start drying herself off.

She hadn't looked in the mirror as she dressed, all too aware of the scars that she had found on her arms and torso. Instead she left the bathroom almost immediately after she had finished dressing, throwing her hair up in a messy bun to stop the wet hair from sticking to her. Everyone else was already at dinner she realised as she managed to quietly pass by and into the Homestead to drop things into her room.

The blonde wasn't exactly sure how she managed to get to the room unnoticed, but she was definitely glad that she had. It was now that she was slowly working up the courage to go downstairs and join everyone for dinner.

Although she wasn't that hungry….

The moment the thought of just going straight to bed went through her head, her stomach gave a painfully loud growl, vetoing her head's decision. A soft groan left her lips as she thought about that mocking comments that were definitely going to come. Why did she have to be the only girl there? And why did she seem to be the only one with any memories of her past?

'You're special,' the male voice echoed through her head the moment she thought the last question. The voice that made her feel comfortable, and yet on edge at the same time. Somehow it was familiar to her. She knew that much. But… if she was being honest she was also slightly concerned that she was finally losing her mind.

Jay didn't want to know what would happen to her if she did go completely insane. In a place without proper medical help, she was screwed. If she was lucky they'd just keep her locked in the room that they gave her.

'You're not insane Jay, you have to trust me,' the voice said in her head once again. 'But you can't mention this to anyone… what you have to know is that I will do everything I can to help you.'

'Who are you?' she thought to herself, looking around the room. But no one else was there, and no sign of the bugs that the creators used either. And this time, the voice didn't respond to her.

"Thanks," she muttered sarcastically as she sighed, standing up and heading down to have dinner with everyone else.

* * *

**A/N: **

**Hello there everyone, I'm so sorry that I took so long to update this story once again, but being home has meant school stuff and work and all that fun stuff. But here's the newest chapter, and I hope you guys enjoyed it. Hopefully there'll be more soon.**

**May A Chance: Yes, yes Jay is, but one would hope so considering she survived a war already. Fun fact, she was originally going to win the fight, but I decided that wouldn't be good as part of character development. So she didn't. Oops?**

**GraffitiArtist14: Thanks so much for your kind review, I hope you liked the update!**


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